All posts by Guy O'Donnell

Hi I am Guy the project coordinator for Get The Chance. I am a trained secondary teacher of Art and Design and have taught at all Key Stages in England and Wales. I am also an experienced theatre designer and have designed for many of the theatre companies in Wales.

Art, Museums & heritage

An interview with Tom Goddard Project Producer at Criw Celf, A2:Connect

December 22, 2016 Guy O'Donnell Leave a comment

Criw Celf workshops 2016

Hi Tom – great to meet you, can you give our readers some background information on yourself please?

I’m a visual artist mainly working in film and performance. I like to work with people and my projects have included customised football wall charts, an odyssey across Wales, an archive to a lake monster, a journey into neolithic welsh life. I have recently had my films shown in Buenos Aires, Argentina and at the Whitechapel Gallery, London.

I position my work on the line between truth and fiction, considering how public anxieties have intensified within the axis of the modern world through an obsessive repetition of endless facts, where choices are seemingly endless.

I am an advocate for education and best practice in the arts as well as for the role of the artist in the 21st century.

You work for Arts Active Trust promoting arts activity for schools and communities in the central south region. Can you please give me more information on this and your work?

The Arts Active Trust is a charity that seeks to engage people of all ages with creative activities through working directly with artists and professional practitioners who can inspire and guide their development. A key part of the Arts Active programme is A2:Connect which is the Arts & Education network for the Central South region working to bring artists of all disciplines – music, drama, visual arts, literature etc. directly into our schools. In association with A2:Connect, Criw Celf Cardiff is a visual arts project for ‘More Able & Talented’ young artists at secondary school.

Then more specifically you are Project Producer at Criw Celf, what does your role entail?

I work one day a week managing the Criw Celf Cardiff programme of workshops and courses so I get to work with a wide range of visual artists, educators and arts professionals. I work directly with art teachers in secondary schools across Cardiff about how they can be involved in the scheme.

Criw Celf workshops 2016

In January 2017 I believe you will be supporting young people described as gifted and talented to Discover Artes Mundi 7, with nominated artist Bedwyr Williams. This sounds very exciting what will take place during these workshops and how do people get involved?

We’re very lucky to have Bedwyr coming down to Cardiff. He’s had a great year showing at the Barbican, Somerset House and being nominated for Artes Mundi 7. I’ve invited him because he is an inspiring Welsh artist who, through his work explores and asks questions about the world from different perspectives. The young people will be able to take a tour of Artes Mundi as well as taking part in workshops to produce art work of their own.

You have a great deal of experience in the Visual Arts in Wales Do you think the Visual Arts as a form still resonate for young people?

We live in a world more saturated with visual imagery than ever before. There is a media environment both on and off line that is telling young people what to look like, what to desire and what to care about. Visual arts in all of its forms, whether its film, sculpture or painting, offers a way to understand how to look, contextualise, empathise and learn tolerance in order to think about the kind of world you want to live in and create.

Learning is an active process and sensory input is something we construct a meaning out of, we then construct meanings and systems of meaning. It’s about curiosity, open-mindedness and understanding that not everything in a gallery or in a theatre is for you and if there isn’t anything that speaks to you, feeling empowered to do it yourself.

In the visual arts young people can go on intellectual adventures or get lost in the beauty or ugliness of something, in turn discovering new things and things about themselves.

Young Art Force

Get the Chance works to support a diverse range of members of the public to access cultural provision. Are you aware of any barriers to equality and diversity for either Welsh or Wales based artists?

There are many barriers both social and physical that exist for young people from lower income families which prevent them from engaging with arts and culture. One of the barriers I feel we can tackle easily is the language used to describe arts and culture which often can prohibit and distance families as well as being irrelevant to today’s young people.

Black Kettle Collective performing Protest Song

If you were able to fund an area of the arts in Wales what would this be and why?

I think I would do away with areas of the arts and instead concentrate on funding strong and transformational projects. Many of the projects would be cross disciplinary so creativity is supported rather than discriminating between artistic forms.

Young Art Force

What excites you about the arts in Wales? What was the last really great thing that you experienced that you would like to share with our readers?

What excites me is cross disciplinary partnerships and collaboration. Genuine connections with a range of people from all sorts of different backgrounds. An openness to change and link Cardiff and Wales with other international cities rather than always comparing ourselves to other cities in the UK.

I enjoyed Artes Mundi this year – Bedwyr Williams’s Ty Mawr and John Akomfrah at Artes Mundi were strong stand out films for me.

As part of a partnership between Chapter and Artes Mundi I saw The Stuart Hall Project, Akomfrah’s film documenting the life of cultural theorist Stuart Hall who is one of my heroes. Hall was integral to exploring social change in Britain and I’ve often thought of him being the voice of God. Ever changing and always thinking, flexible and rational.

Another standout was S Mark Gubb ‘Revelations: The Poison of Free Thought, Part II’ and Mike Kelley’s ‘Mobile Homestead’ supported by Artangel at g39 and Cardiff Contemporary.

I went to the reopening of Glynn Vivian Art Gallery in Swansea which includes film work by Lindsey Seers and an exhibition related to Richard Glynn Vivian a Victorian traveller whose collection of over 12,000 works was gifted to the city of Swansea. I’m particularly interested in the story of early European porcelain and the Gallery has examples from the Meissen factory by sculptors Kaendler and Kircher which i normally travel to the V&A in London to see. There’s also Leonardo da Vinci, Turner, Picasso etc…Worth a visit!

Thanks for your time Tom.

Link below to further information on Criw Celf Cardiff – New Year Art Course

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/new-year-art-course-criw-celf-cardiff-tickets-29643221674

Uncategorized

2016 Cultural Highlights from the Get the Chance team

December 21, 2016 Guy O'Donnell Leave a comment

Members of the Get the Chance team have selected their own personal highlights of 2016. Their first choice is that of three cultural events that they have reviewed Their second is something they have personally experienced which has resonance for them as an individual.
3rd Act Critic Helen Joy
1 Tom Jones, The Musical Theatr na nÓg
Local boy made good in spectacular style by a local theatre company, brought alive through the lucky chance of sitting next to the daughter of the publican

Review Tom: A Story of Tom Jones, The Musical by Helen Joy

2 Animatorium – Dance on the pavement with NDCW
getthechance.wales/2016/12/16/gala-night-national-dance-company-wales/
3 Kiss me Kate
“A feast WNO”
getthechance.wales/2016/12/09/kiss-kate-wno/
Personal Event of the year
“Being published, in a very minor capacity, in Country Smallholding magazine three times this year – and the latest article seemed to give so much pleasure to the group I reported on at the Savour Kilkenny Food Festival.”
Young Critic Amelia Seren
1. Clear-Cut @ M.A.D.E:
“The opportunity to catch a diverse range of artists or performers mid-thought, and to witness the creative process so intimately is valuable and rare. Clear-Cut is a must-see.”
getthechance.wales/2016/08/16/review-clear-cut-6-amelia-seren-roberts/
2. Cardiff Contemporary: Festival of the Visual Arts in Cardiff. [Especially the work of S. Mark Gubb at G39 and the opening of TactileBosch].
3. Sticky Intimacy @ Chapter: Works by Katie Cuddon, Emma Hart and Nicholas Pope.
Personal Event of the year
“My personal highlight of 2016 has been graduating from Cardiff School of Art & Design with a First Class Masters Degree in Fine Art, [MFA]. I am extremely grateful for the knowledge I’ve developed whilst studying in Cardiff, as well as the opportunity to have gained valuable work experience in the arts in South Wales.”
Community Critic Emily Garside
1. Romeo and Juliet Taking Flight
“For taking a classic Shakespeare play that is perhaps overly familiar for some and making it fresh and new by putting inclusive art at the centre of creativity rather than an add on or afterthought.”
http://www.buzzmag.co.uk/reviews/taking-flight-theatre-romeo-juliet-stage-review/
2. Meet Fred Hijinx
“A clever, touching and at times hilarious look at life and the obstacles it throws at us (literally at times) through the eyes of two foot high puppet Fred”

Meet Fred | Theatre

3. A Good Clean Heart Neonatopia at The Other Room
“How could you not love a play that has a Dizzy Rascal rap in Welsh?”

Highlights of the Year 2016 Part 1

Personal Event of the year
‘My most important happening/event would be the Brexit vote, for being something that is likely to impact our lives (including cultural) but also for uniting people in the face of divisions as well.”
Young Critic Lauren Ellis Stretch
1 Scorch Primecut Productions at the Sherman Theatre
“Scorch is electrifying. It alights, and it shocks, it launches you, and it takes no prisoners. Never have I wanted an actor to look me in the eyes more than Amy McAllister. She was fierce without anguish, and she was light without compromise. She is your friend.”
getthechance.wales/2016/09/07/review-not-i-scorch-sherman-cymru-lauren-ellis-stretch/
2 Bird The Sherman Theatre/Manchester Royal Exchange
“Never have I experienced such encompassing performances. Bird holds up a mirror to the real world and the audience are almost blinded by the familiar reflections.”
getthechance.wales/2016/05/18/review-bird-sherman-cymru-lauren-ellis-stretch/
3 The Weir the Sherman Theatre/Tobacco Factory
“A classic of contemporary theatre; empathetic, voyeuristic, and unnerving”
getthechance.wales/2016/10/16/review-weir-sherman-theatre-lauren-ellis-stretch/

Young Critic Sian Thomas
1 The Cardiff Book Festival
“I had such a brilliant time, and I was in my element surrounded by people who share the same interests as me and them being supportive and friendly. Though we were all at different stages of writing while some of us were published where others weren’t, it wasn’t even about that. It was nice that we were all there for our common interest and that alone which built us all up. I loved that day so much.”
2 Wolfsong by TJ Klune
“Definitely the best book I’ve read all year”
getthechance.wales/2016/09/01/review-wolfsong-tj-klune-sian-thomas/
3 Peter Pan at the Everyman Festival
“A truly wonderful production which I wholeheartedly enjoyed and would gladly see again.”
getthechance.wales/2016/08/01/review-disneys-peter-pan-everyman-festival-sian-thomas/
Personal Event of the year
“The most important thing is that I had ages this summer to work on my own writing and used that to my advantage. I was able to write a cohesive and structured 23,000 words, which is so important to me and something I am immeasurably proud of. I’ve continued working on it outside of this and instead in chunks and scenes around schoolwork to build it up before hopefully piecing it altogether soon.”
Community Critic Gemma Treharne Foose
1 Meet Fred, Hijinx at The Other Room
“A work of art! A clever Japanese-inspired political puppetry tale of modern times. Completely original and unlike anything else out there.”
getthechance.wales/2016/06/29/review-meet-fred-hijinx-theatre-gemma-treharne-foose/
2 Wonderman Gagglebabble/NTW/WMC at the Tramshed
“A jazzy and dreamy musical extravaganza – colour, joy, wit and wonder, inspired by Dahl and extra magic added courtesy of National Theatre Wales and the Wales Millennium Centre.”
getthechance.wales/2016/09/14/review-wonderman-gagglebabble-gemma-treharne-foose/
3 Bird The Sherman Theatre/Manchester Royal Exchange
“A spot-on portrayal of growing up ‘in the system’ and the pervasive strength and bond of family and friends. Edgy, authentic and deeply moving. My stomach was in nots and I was a sweaty mess watching it!”
getthechance.wales/2016/05/27/review-bird-sherman-cymru-gemma-treharne-foose/
Other memorable ones to note:
The Borrowers, The Sherman Theatre- “I didn’t review it but saw with my family – completely beautiful production, fell in love with all the characters and cast – laughed, cried and left on a happy cloud. Superb!”
The Hunting of the Snark, The Sherman Theatre: “Again I didn’t review but saw it with my family – poignant and sweet, a funny romp of a tale with stand out characters.”
“The Sherman Theatre is nailing these family shows, they don’t talk down to the audience, they bring them in for a ‘catch’ and a chuckle instead. There’s substance to the shows without being preachy or basic. I have thoroughly enjoyed the family productions there this year, faultless!”
Young Critic Hannah Goslin
1. Three Penny Opera – National Theatre
Three Penny Opera is a mixture of comedy, escapism and taboo challenging, all combined with fantastic acting, vocal accompaniment and overall, an excellent theatre concept.
getthechance.wales/2016/07/13/review-threepenny-opera-national-theatre-hannah-goslin/
2. Smash It Up – Mr & Mrs Clark, Battersea Arts Centre
“If there is only one thing you do this year, it should be to see any show by this formidable company. Their open and in your face opinion and protest to the state of art leaves you not only thinking but also rooting for them if you weren’t already involved In the conversation. Flying the flag for Wales – The Clarks have easily conquered London.”
getthechance.wales/2016/05/22/review-smash-mr-mrs-clark-battersea-arts-centre-hannah-goslin/
3. Unreachable – The Royal Court
“It was a joy and wonderful to see the actors finding the play just as funny as we did.”
getthechance.wales/2016/07/20/review-unreachable-the-royal-court-by-hannah-goslin/
Personal Event of the year
‘This year I decided to spend two months seeing a glimpse of the World. Travelling through South America, stopping in Canada, heading to Japan, Thailand, India and a quick dip in Abu Dhabi, I went away as one person and came back as a better one. I saw amazing things, met interesting people and found part of who I really am. An experience unlike any other.”
3rd Act Critic Barbara Michaels
1 The Marinsky Ballet
“Superlatives are usually to be avoided when writing a review. There are, however, exceptions. Perfection is the word that springs to mind. 5*”
http://www.thereviewshub.com/mariinsky-ballet-wales-millennium-centre-cardiff/
2 Mandela by the Cape Town Opera Company at the WMC
‘A unique piece of musical theatre and a history lesson.”
http://www.thereviewshub.com/mandela-wales-millennium-centre-cardiff/
3 Romeo and Juliet Performed by the National Youth Theatre of Wales.
“A cast of talented young actors under a brilliant artistic director daring to add their own interpretation of one of Shakespeare’s greatest plays.”
http://www.thereviewshub.com/romeo-and-juliet-new-theatre-cardiff/
Personal Event of the year
“As for my own top personal cultural experience – it is yet to come. On Christmas Eve, no less, when as a surprise present my family is taking me to Sadler’s Well’s to see a performance of Matthew Bourne’s new ballet ‘The Red Shoes.’ It has had rave reviews. Will be touring, so hopefully coming to Cardiff in 2017.”
Young Critic Osian Evans
1. Hub Fest
“Hub fest was spot on this year with it’s street party vibe, I wish Womanby street was like that every weekend. Dancing to a silent disco in a courtyard was a highlight for me.”.
2 Cardiff’s screening of Rogue One
3 Swn Fest
“It’s just perfect. It’s a festival that not only showcases the City of Cardiff but also the wonderful atmosphere of the city.”
getthechance.wales/2016/11/01/review-swn-fest-osian-ifans/
Personal Event of the year
“My personal event would be Foyer Sessions on the 29th of April at the Sherman Theatre, Cardiff. Yeah I chose my own event and what!? That’s the reason it was personal, it was great to see that many people turn up to see some live music and look at some art.”
Young Critic Kaitlin Wray
1. Constellation Street The Other Room Theatre
“The monologues interlinked beautifully. I thoroughly enjoyed watching it and would love to be taken on that journey again.”
getthechance.wales/2016/04/23/review-constellation-street-the-other-room-by-kaitlin-wray/
2. Henry VI by Omidaze at WMC
“I would recommend everyone to watch this show, Shakespeare fan or not. Omidaze are challenging theatre conventions even more than we’ve ever seen and you should be a part of this experience.”
getthechance.wales/2016/02/08/review-henry-vi-omidaze-by-kaitlin-wray/
3. Bird – Sherman Cymru/Manchester Royal Exchange
“Outstanding direction, a story that’s so raw I felt like I was trespassing into their private lives”
getthechance.wales/2016/05/22/review-bird-sherman-cymru-kaitlin-wray/
Young Critic Amina Elmi
1 The article I wrote on diversity.
“We know that diversity does work and that it is not a risk. So why does Hollywood remain white?”
getthechance.wales/2016/08/15/diversity-media-amina-elmi/
Personal Event of the year
“The most important event of 2016 for me personally Brexit as it is something that seemed trivial to me at first as someone who could not legally vote at the time, but as the result came in that the Britain was leaving European union it became apparent that it was much more Complicated than I previously thought. The rise in hate crime has also been an issue that I care about strongly.”
3rd Act Critic Catherine Parkinson
Personal Event of the year
“A cultural highlight for me this year was the Roald Dahl weekend. I was in the massed choir for City of the Unexpected, so my cultural highlight of the year was singing a medley of Welsh songs at the gates of Cardiff Castle in front of an enormous crowd. It was topped off by the ‘marriage’ event at City Hall that evening with Delibes’ Flower Duet being performed by two Opera Singers on the roof of City Hall with a live orchestra – a real ‘goose-bump’ moment for me, made all the more poignant by the fact that this piece was played at our wedding as I am sure it is many weddings.
In terms of the most important event of the year it has to be the Brexit vote. As an ex Erasmus student that had the privilege of studying in Italy for a year as part of my first degree, and now working in a University Science department, I can’t tell you the gloomy atmosphere that pervaded the University after the result. Our international students and colleagues alike, took it very hard and we continue to fear what the effect will be on science funding and collaboration with our European counterparts in the future.”
Community Critic Sarah Debnham
1. Mamma Mia at The Wales Millennium Centre
“Without a doubt the best theatre show I’ve seen yet!”
getthechance.wales/2016/10/13/review-mamma-mia-musical-wales-millennium-centre-sarah-debnam/
2. The Freddie Mercury Project Sinfonia Cymru at the RWCMD
“I think we witnessed something special in the Freddie Mercury Project, and think that the effort and skill poured into this production did not fail to impress. The standing ovation at both shows we went to echoed this as well I think.”
getthechance.wales/2016/07/10/review-freddie-mercury-project-sinfonia-cymru-rwcmd-sarah-lucy-debnam/
3. George’s Marvellous Medicine at the New Theatre
‘I don’t think there was anything I could fault from this production, the acting was spot on, the scenery and props were amazing and the music and lighting cleverly used. Many things could have been missed or ignored but weren’t and the attention to detail was brilliant. As everything Roald Dahl seems to be, brilliant!”
getthechance.wales/2016/11/07/review-georges-marvellous-medicine-new-theatre-cardiff-sarah-debnam/

Theatre

“Six Years ago I Was a Mess” by Chelsey Gillard

December 8, 2016 Guy O'Donnell Leave a comment

Nia Roberts in Love Steals Us From Loneliness, by National Theatre Wales at Hobos Nightclub Bridgend

Six years ago I was a mess. I had dropped out of university. Everything I had been working up to in my life so far had fallen apart during the time it takes to read one email. I honestly didn’t know who I was or what I wanted to do with the rest of my life – a gaping eternity with not a single flash of hope ahead. Working a full time job in retail, to prove I wasn’t a directionless burden on my family, did little to improve my mood.

Hobos, Bridgend

Somehow I found myself in my usual boozer, Bridgend’s only alternative club, Hobos. But this time it wasn’t to throw some shapes on the dance floor. Instead I was seeing the first professional production I’d ever heard about taking place in Bridgend. Like many others I was a little annoyed that the play was inhabiting the space in which I could usually let my hair down (yes I had long hair back then!).
Working with National Theatre Wales Guy O’Donnell (Arts Development Officer for Bridgend Council) had set up a new initiative – The Young Critics. The aim was to get more young people into theatres, seeing professional work and sharing their opinions on what they had seen with a wide online audience. I had taken a chance and got involved with the scheme, feeling very strange as I climbed the steps into Hobos in flat shoes rather than heels to see Gary Owen’s Love Steals Us From Loneliness.
Thanks to the Young Critics I was able to review more and more work. It was rare for me to go a full week without seeing a show. My knowledge grew exponentially. My taste for theatre exploded – I’m now a huge fan of more experimental work that would have left me confused and unsatisfied as a 19 year old.
That first year as a Young Critic gave me my passion for life back. Seeing so much exciting work gave me my love of theatre back. Feeling like my opinion was valid (if sometimes wrong) gave me my confidence back. I applied to study English and Drama at Cardiff Metropolitan University and I haven’t looked back since.
During my studies I started previewing people’s work. Being able to sit in on the rehearsal process and learn the tricks of the trade got my mind whirring. This is what I wanted to do! I wanted to be in the rehearsal room making beautiful theatre.

Chelsey Gillard & Rachel Williams – Bridgend Young Critics. National Rural Touring/Night Out Wales. Extending the Reach: Working with Young People

And now here I am (warning! Bragging ahead). I’m an associate director for The Other Room in Cardiff, I’ve been teaching a module at Trinity University, I am setting up my very own theatre company and I’m writing a funding application for a rehearsal and development period on my first piece of work as a writer. And perhaps most importantly I now only publicly share my opinions in short-form on twitter.
Looking back at my review of Love Steals for this article was painful! I was so opinionated about theatre, something that at the time I was so unknowledgeable about. I throw my opinion about like it’s the only thing that mattered. There are comments in that review that make me not want to share the article again for fear that they could stymie my career now. But at least I was honest. I said what I felt in my characteristically awkward way.
Now as a theatre maker in my own right I hope I have retained some of that honesty. I try to hold my own work up to the same brutally honest criticism that I levelled on NTW.
Love Steals Us From Loneliness is being staged again, by exciting new company Chippy Lane. In a lovely circular twist of fate I myself directed a rehearsed reading for them earlier this year. I am so looking forward to seeing the show tonight. I wonder if my opinion of the play will have changed (my opinion of Gary Owen certainly has – I’m so sorry!). But there is certainly one part of my original review I still wholeheartedly agree with:
“Hopefully this production will force those with the power to sit up and realise that Bridgend is bursting with talent and a thirst for quality theatre that requires a full time venue in the town centre that will hopefully attract more productions”
There is now an arts venue in Bridgend – Carnegie House – but it isn’t a fully functioning theatre that is ready to receive work and there is not enough of a concerted effort to develop audiences in Bridgend.
Of course it is easy for me to say all this, but what am I doing to change it? Honesty… nothing. I haven’t made a single piece of work in my hometown.
I am fully aware of my own hypocrisy.
This isn’t an online call to arms for us to crusade into Bridgend and inject some ‘culture darling’. It isn’t even me promising I will make more of an effort. It is me thinking out loud about what has started my strange journey to be sat here in Chapter Arts Centre like so many others tapping away at their laptops. It’s me realising I am not as honest with myself as I should be.
It’s me making a promise to myself that I will make work that 19 year old Chelsey would find exciting and worthy of comment – even if that comment is brutal and judgemental. I will go and see more work than I currently do (life has an awful habit of getting in the way). Or at least I will try until I once more get so absorbed in my own projects that I can’t see the wood for the trees.
Hopefully then I will read a Young Critic’s review of one of my shows and once again they will remind me that making theatre is about so much more than what other theatre makers think. It’s about sharing a live experience with a room full of other humans and being led on a huge emotional journey that has the power to change the direction of someone’s life.
Chelseys original review
THURSDAY, 4 NOVEMBER 2010
Love and Loss in Bridgend
Love Steals Us From Loneliness by Gary Owen
National Theatre Wales with Sherman Cymru
Venue: Hobo’s Rock Club, Bridgend
Dates: 7th – 16th Oct 2010
Director: John E McGrath
Verdict: ***
Review by Chelsey Gillard
Being born and bred in Bridgend I was dreading either a depressing, dark and moody look at teenage life in “the Big-End” or a telling off about how the town was so much better back in the day and that kids don’t get outside enough. The teens in this play were of course moody and bordering on depression (what teen isn’t) but they certainly got out enough! Their destination of choice was Bridgend town centre at Halloween; a place that locals know, come midnight, is full of witches and monsters all year round.
Standing in the bar waiting for the show to start I realised that someone I vaguely recognised was standing next to me looking nervous, a second look revealed Mark Sumner in the part of Scott. He was living the geeky character so thoroughly that even after years of acting alongside him in the Bridgend Youth Theatre it took me a while to figure out his identity. The karaoke microphone on the small stage was soon put to use as Scott began the play with a song interrupted by a rather gobby yet beautiful Catrin (Katie Elin-Salt) storming out of the club.
We were led into the intimate, double sided, theatre area and the play began proper. Catrin and Scott were now in a graveyard where Catrin was trying to relieve herself. The awkwardness of the situation soon forced the two- linked by their friendship and love of Lee, Catrin’s boyfriend – to not only talk, but listen. This act of the play was beautifully naturalistic, with a lot of Bridgend’s unique language captured almost perfectly, including very regular F- and C-bombs. Scott’s understated declaration of love for Catrin was realistic, funny and most of all touching. The interval came all too soon as we waited for Catrin’s response.
In the second act the metal hoops that were earlier used as seats and fences were now decorated in various personal belongings – Lee’s belongings, who we learn has died in a car crash via the brutal text message “Lee’s dead” from his mother to his sister. His shoes, clothes and car accessories constantly give this character a presence on the stage although there is never a physical embodiment of the boy who is to remain forever 17.
We are joined by three new characters; Lee’s sister Becky, played by Remy Beasley, who was possibly a secondary character but she made the part as important as all the others with a unique combination of brash charm and sensitivity. Catrin’s new boyfriend Mikey, Matthew Trevannion, who reminded me of that friend we all have that we sometimes wish we didn’t know so we don’t have to admit to any connection in public but we love deep down. And Lee’s mother Mags, superbly portrayed by Nia Roberts, who won most, if not all of our sympathy with her descent into grief- stricken meltdown.
This act flipped, sometimes ungracefully, between naturalistic speech and more poetic musings on life, love and mortality. Personally I think these musings were perhaps out of character, but they did serve the purpose of giving us an insight into each person’s journey from the hell of losing a loved one to the need to move on with life. The monologues occasionally seemed to be designed only to tug on the heartstrings and I felt more moved by some of the more underplayed lines. The bittersweet ending gave us Catrin’s much anticipated answer to Scott’s adoration; a brief kiss that had provided the fuel for Lee’s high speed death
.
Having myself acted in one of Gary Owen’s plays “Mary Twice” I must rather brutally admit that I was not expecting much from the script. Although “Love Steals” was an improvement I still feel the success of this production lies in the hands of the director and actors who used everything they were given; script, music, set and venue; to their full advantage.
My main criticism is that on times the effort the actors were making to address both sides of the audience was a bit obvious with big, although probably unintentional, flourishes when turning around and that as they we on stage for the full second half brief lapses in concentration were all too visible. Also if that is what a Bridgend accent truly sounds like I need to get myself some elocution lessons pronto!
Hopefully this production will force those with the power to sit up and realise that Bridgend is bursting with talent and a thirst for quality theatre that requires a full time venue in the town centre that will hopefully attract more productions from the fantastic NTW. The time has come for my little ugly-beautiful town to lick its wounds and move on to a bright future whilst also remembering its past, bad times but more so good.
http://hypercriticreviews.blogspot.co.uk/2010/11/love-steals-us-from-lonliness-review_04.html

Theatre

Democratising Culture from Bridgend to Brazil Catherine Paskell

December 6, 2016 Guy O'Donnell Leave a comment

“And you said something
you said something stupid like
love steals us from loneliness
happy birthday, are you lonely yet?”
It’s now six years since Gary Owen’s play Love Steals Us From Loneliness was commissioned and performed in National Theatre Wales’ inaugural production year of 12 shows in 12 months in 12 places all across Wales. The production was staged in Hobo’s, a nightclub in Gary’s hometown of Bridgend in October 2010. It was my second year as a founding member and Creative Associate of Wales’ English-language national company. I had directed the 5^th show in National Theatre Wales’ first year: The Beach, an interactive theatre game on the beach at Prestatyn in July 2010. I also created artistic and community debate-and-response programmes, including our New Critics scheme that supported emerging writers to develop their critical writing through mentoring, workshops, feedback and a conference.

I was really excited to see Gary’s new play: a strong drama that responded intelligently to the ubiquitous reporting at the time of Bridgend county’s suicide incidents. The creative team and wider National Theatre Wales company members worked with artists and young people in Bridgend to investigate and tell the truthful local stories. We partnered with Guy O’Donnell, who at that time was Arts Projects Officer for Bridgend County Council, to spread the learning of the New Critics scheme and offer similar training to young people through Bridgend County Council arts projects. We delivered critical writing workshops for Bridgend’s young people so they could have a greater range of writing tools to respond to their first show, happening on their doorstep: Love Steals Us From Loneliness.
https://youtu.be/nVko_BfsjsY
From these first collaborations, the Young Critics movement in Wales was born. Guy worked to engage more young people, firstly across Bridgend county and then across South Wales and more widely across the nation. National Theatre Wales provided more support through workshops and feedback from our own New Critics, especially Ben Bryant who was being mentored by Lyn Gardner and wanted to share his learning more widely. The Young Critics membership grew and structured its own bespoke programme, engaging with more arts and cultural organisations to provide greater access to exhibitions and open rehearsals, tickets to performances and interviews with artists. Conversations and critiques about creative performance, arts and culture sprang up online, in blogs, in videos, on social media: we heard voices talking about the arts that were different than those we had heard over the past years. The Young Critics scheme always had the learning and experiences of the young participants at its heart; from these experiences, many young critics became young artists, who are now engaging in the arts world in a different way, as emerging directors, writers, actors, producers and other creative practitioners. Young Critics opened the artistic world to make myriad experiences, jobs and roles more visible and more attainable.
I remember a teenager in one Bridgend workshop talking to me about how I became a theatre director. I talked about my training, my life experiences; she told me about her passions and what she was up to. Three years later, she interviewed me as a Young Critic about my directing process during rehearsals for my production for Dirty Protest, Parallel Lines by Katherine Chandler. She said she was thinking about being a theatre director, and these interviews and seeing and talking about work were all helping her development. This young woman was Chelsey Gillard, who two years after this interview became an emerging director with The Other Room pub theatre in Cardiff and is now a young director in her own right.
The Young Critics’ collegiate approach has influenced the professional theatre scene in Wales. The Young Critics created the first ever Theatre Critics of Wales Awards in 2013. They invited professional theatre critics from Wales to join them in nominating and voting. The ceremony was open to all: a joyful celebration of Welsh performance and growing arts analysis voiced by young people. In 2014, the production I had directed for Dirty Protest – Parallel Lines – won the Critics’ Choice Award for Best Production in the English Language. For the first time I could remember, because the Young Critics scheme had opened up arts criticism to more than a few privileged voices, I needed more than two hands to count the number of reviews and critical blog posts the show received. I was thrilled to win the award not just because I was proud of the show and the team; the awards ceremony seemed to show a turning point in democratizing Welsh arts culture and criticism, as smaller project-funded companies were celebrated (and won more awards) than the larger core-funded portfolio organisations.

It’s two years later, and a new production of Love Steals Us From Loneliness opens at Chapter in Cardiff this week, the first production created by new company Chippy Lane Productions. The Young Critics scheme has merged with the Third Act Critics (for older people) and Community Critics Wales for critics aged 25-50 years and now all three projects operate under the umbrella of host organisation Get The Chance to engage even more people to see, participate in and write about arts and culture. Arts and cultural organisations ensure a seat for members at productions, alongside the national newspapers and TV journalists.
The Young Critics and Get the Chance are at the forefront of a movement towards democratisation of arts production and cultural criticism. Wales has a strong history of DIY arts activity, from choirs to theatre to craft. Digital and online media platforms mean that now more people can create and distribute art and cultural criticism. It’s very hard to make a living from arts criticism as newspapers close the few positions they have and digital distribution is largely unpaid. There are debates around whether opening up these fields to more people strengthens or dilutes the work.
I suggest that in line with American public radio host Ira Glass’ comments on creativity, when we all start out with creative endeavours, no matter our age, we get better the more experience we get through practicing, rehearsing and doing:
“Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.”
If anything is to be new, it’s got to be allowed to be different, or not as good as our ambitions want it to be, when we first start out. That’s how we create new things and make change happen.

It’s an issue that I reflected on whilst directing theatre in Brazil earlier this year. I created a new production of The Merchant of Venice for Shakespeare400, relocated to Belo Horizonte. Professional full-time actors in Brazil are rare; most performers are poorly paid and rehearse in the evenings only over a period of 9 months because they need full-time day jobs to live. The ensemble cast were chosen for their talent and their diverse mix of ages, backgrounds, religions, political leanings, class, race, gender, sexuality. Some of them almost didn’t audition because Shakespeare is seen as an elite theatre form in Brazil; it wasn’t something they are normally allowed to make. Through rehearsals, their barriers came down and their confidence grew. They made Shakespeare belong to them, they owned it, they spoke the language in their own voice, and reflected on their contemporary experiences through a 400-year old story. This was radical theatre in Brazil.

The critics and cultural analysts responded: we had TV, newspaper and online interviews, photo shoots, blogs, articles and previews in the lead up to the first night, and this generated queues of audience members snaking around the building to see the show. But after opening night – nothing. No reviews whatsoever. Critical arts culture just does not exist in the same way as we know it in Brazil. Arts journalists exist to preview and promote high profile art, they are almost a “what’s on” guide.
For a richly diverse culture, theatre production and arts criticism in Brazil is largely homogenous. The same voices are heard through the same networks. New productions and new critical avenues are opening up slowly. Culture is seen as democratic, as the population are keen dancers, singers, sportspeople and other cultural consumers, notably through annual Carnival celebrations and samba competitions. But hierarchies within social, educational and cultural structures mean that most people don’t have access to high art, like Shakespeare theatre performances. In a country of extreme gaps between poor and rich, with corrupt politicians and police forces, where violent crime is experienced daily and the legacy of slavery is omnipresent, there are big debates about ownership of stories and arts, and who has the right language, means and background to participate and comment.

Just as the UK’s media responded to the young suicides in Bridgend by creating a distorted narrative that didn’t reflect reality, this happens daily to young people from poor backgrounds in the favelas and slums of Brazil, as their regional and national newspapers misrepresent them. Just as Bridgend needed a different story at the time of Love Steals Us From Loneliness, so do many people across the world who are not permitted to tell their own stories.
In Wales we run the risk of a homogenised culture if we don’t allow new voices and faces to come through arts. The Young Critics scheme and Get the Chance are providing an avenue to support these voices to be heard on a validated platform, alongside professional and already-respected individuals. I hope the new updated production of Love Steals Us From Loneliness shows us how Bridgend has changed since 2010, leaving those news reports of the time far behind. I have certainly witnessed the creative scene in Wales change in that time, thanks to the activities of National Theatre Wales, the Young Critics and the many, many arts projects run by creative people and organisations across the nation, as well as those Welsh artists and companies who have raised the profile of Welsh arts outside the country through touring and co-productions.
As a theatre director, I want to share my experience, passion and any privilege I have as a cultural leader in Wales to support and elevate others. Democratising arts and critical response is vital to hear more voices, understand others’ perspectives, imagine alternative possibilities and create change. This was the aim of my work with National Theatre Wales when Love Steals Us From Loneliness was first produced, and six years later, although we have made positive advances, the current political climate towards bunkered populism means a fight for democracy, diversity and pluralism is even more vital than ever. The arts world in Wales mustn’t bunker down ourselves, close ourselves off through fear of losing resources, risk quality, or become responsive service providers for ‘customers’ or ‘users’. We need the vision to lead, democratise and share, so that through elevating others we elevate everyone and ourselves.

Dance, Film & TV, Literature, Museums & heritage, Music, Opera & classical, Theatre

The Launch of Creative Citizens Cymru

November 26, 2016 Guy O'Donnell Leave a comment

Get the Chance recently organised a morning of creative conversations called Creative Citizens Cymru. The event was funded by the Arts Council Wales Sharing Together. “A strategic initiative to encourage the development of networking opportunities.”

The event took place at the Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff. Participants shared their views on a variety of issues including, the on-going relationships between arts critics, venues, producers and artists, critical responses to Welsh venues’ work as well as new and existing collaborative working methods. Get the Chance (GTC) is a social enterprise that supports members of the public to access and respond to sport and cultural provision. GTC was specifically interested in generating conversation relating to ways to support the development of Creative Citizens acting as critics, ambassadors, volunteers, advocates, promoters, workshop leaders and more.
Representatives from a range of organisations discussed some of their work in this area including,
Geinor Styles Artistic Director, of Theatr na nÓg and Ani of the Ambassadors discussed their Ambassadors scheme.

“The Theatr na nÓg Ambassadors scheme started in January 2016 in order to support and mentor the new generation of theatre professionals.
Aimed towards 16-25 year olds, the scheme offers full access to the company where you will learn by observation and get hands-on experience at rehearsals, on productions and events. The Ambassadors have already supported na nÓg in our production of ‘TOM’ at the Wales Millennium Centre, performed as cast members on ‘The Amazing Adventure of Wallace and Bates’ at Cardiff Museum and the Eisteddfod as well as supporting the production of ‘The Ghost of Morfa Colliery’ at the Dylan Thomas Theatre in Swansea.
We want to work with as many young people as possible through the medium of both Welsh and English and by offering our support and resources, we hope to contribute to the development of new skills that they will be able to use at na nÓg and elsewhere in the industry.”
http://www.theatr-nanog.co.uk/na-nóg-ambassadors
Nia Skyrme Freelance producer/promoter
Nia works with local community representatives to support marketing opportunities for touring productions. Shanon Newman was local promoter on a recent production supported by Nia.
“My name is Shannon and I am currently an ‘on the ground promoter’ working on Motherlode’s The Good Earth. That means that I am helping to spread the word to as many people as possible about this show which tours Wales in September.
Motherlode’s tagline is Tireless New Theatre, Made in Wales. I saw the last run of rehearsals for ‘The Good Earth’ at Park & Dare Theatre in Treorchy a few weeks ago. I feel extremely lucky to be working to engage people in the Cardiff area and to have got the chance to watch the performance just before it went on tour to New York. I’m delighted to help spread the word about this production; the themes that it touches on evokes awareness on what has affected Wales as a country in the past and its reaction to moments of hardship. It is an important message of strength and unity, especially during a time when we seem to be so divided.
‘The Good Earth’ echoes concerns over the threat to the Welsh identity and community with its close relation to the Aberfan and Tryweryn tragedies. The play made me feel nostalgic about situations I’ve never personally experienced, and empathetic for the characters’ cause to maintain the integrity of their way of life. It reminded me of Wales’s role in modern Britain, and how drastically that has developed over the years. It was the backlash against apathetic and unjust authorities that helped to fuel the surge of Welsh nationalism that we see today.
The singing, though not appearing to be its fundamental feature, significantly intensified the mood of the play. It had a meditative effect. Kudos to the actors for managing to convey the emotions of deeply relevant issues in many Welsh communities. I am so excited to see the show alongside a Welsh audience when it returns from NYC.”
Peter Gregory and Hilary Farr from Arts Council Wales, Night Out Scheme.
Peter and Hilary gave us all a brief overview of The Night Out Scheme

“The Arts Council of Wales’ Night Out scheme works in partnership with the local authorities to help groups of volunteers across Wales bring the arts to the heart of their communities.
Community groups (known as Promoters) can choose from a huge range of great professional performers and put them on in community or village halls and other non traditional venues across the country. If you want information on how the scheme works and promoting events visit the Become a Promoter Section.
Each year close to 600 shows are booked through the scheme by nearly 350 different community groups. Alongside the main scheme we also run the Noson Allan Fach scheme which offers small shows for member led organsiations such as WI or Merched y Wawr.
Working in conjunction with the local authorities of Wales, the Night Out team operates a guarantee against loss for events where we pay the performer fee and the community promoter pays back ticket income made at the door.
We never take more than the performer costs so as a promoter you will never be worse off by using the scheme. The more money promoters make back the more funds we have available to say yes to another request.
Our promoters are free to book a wide range of professional artists. Many come to Night Out for advice on appropriate high quality shows suitable for small community venues.”
Sophie Mckeand and Christine Smith are Night Out Young Promoter Coordinators and talked about their work in this field.
“The award winning Young Promoters Scheme works with groups of children and young people taking them through the process of becoming the promoters for an event in their community. You can download an information leaflet here

“The whole scheme was very straightforward. Everything was clearly explained. The support we had from the Arts Council staff team was superb …The young people were extremely proud of what they had achieved. They have grown in skill and confidence and can’t wait to do it again” Sharon Campbell Colwyn Bay Youth Centre

The Night Out Young Promoters Scheme is an ideal way of giving practical skills to children and young people and improving the relationship between young people and their schools and their local community.
Operating since 2005, the scheme has worked with hundreds of children and young people aged between 7 and 18 throughout Wales, giving them the unique experience of organising and enjoying a performing arts event in their local hall. Projects involve a facilitator, working alongside a teacher or youth leader to enable a group of young people to experience the “behind the scenes” work that goes into organising an event. Though a series of workshop sessions groups are taken through aspects of Box Office, Front of House, Stage Management and Marketing / publicity and Sponsorship. The Young Promoters get to make all the decisions – and do all the work!
Groups are able to have fun as part of a creative learning process and to develop personal, social and work related skills. When run in schools, the scheme can be utilised to deliver specific elements of the national curriculum since it includes aspects of literacy, ICT, mathematics, numeracy, art and design and event management.”
Kai Jones, Gig Buddies Coordinator, Accessible Information Officer, Learning Disability Wales.
Kai discussed the new Gig Buddies initiative.
“Making choices about how you live your life is an important part of being independent. We want to make sure that people with a learning disability can choose to stay up late and go to gigs. A gig is another name for a music concert.
We know that many people with a learning disability love music, but don’t ever get the chance to go to gigs and see their favourite bands live. To help change this we are starting a new project, called Gig Buddies. The project will match people with a learning disability with volunteers who share the same music tastes so they can go to gigs together.”

https://www.ldw.org.uk/information/news/2016/10/gig-buddies-survey.aspx#.WDlPhjc42lY
Anne-Marie Lawrence, Senior Project Manager, Spice Time Credits, South East Wales.
“Time Credits make a sustainable difference to a range of organisations across the community, housing, health, care and school sectors. They are proven to increase the number of people involved in the community and are able to help sustain that involvement over time, bringing about a range of transformative outcomes.
https://youtu.be/3KDhKBd2VCA
Time Credit systems work on a simple hour-for-hour basis: for every hour you give to your community you earn one Time Credit, which you can then spend on an activity of your choice.
You can give time in ways that match your skills and interests, and spend your Time Credits with our diverse range of fantastic partners across the UK who offer everything from swimming to learning a language.”
Much of the morning was spent working as a large group sharing learning opportunities and informal networking.
During the second half of the morning the group were tasked with further developing some responses to questions which developed from the initial conversations and areas Get the Chance wanted to focus on. Some of the responses can be seen in the images below.

An online survey was also created to continue this conversations. The survey is till live and we invite anyone interested to complete it.
https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/W27RC3Q
Get the Chance has another event planned in North Wales in the spring of 2017
Guy O’Donnell the director of Get the Chance organised a similar event a few years ago and a blog post on this event can be found at the link below.
http://community.nationaltheatrewales.org/profiles/blogs/critical-feedback-to-the-response-event

Theatre

Review ‘A Day in the Death of Joe Egg’ Everyman Theatre by Tanica Psalmist

November 25, 2016 Guy O'Donnell Leave a comment

A Day in the Death of Joe Egg was strikingly powerful,
her disability & discrimination was inevitable.
Judgment and suffering; caused mental frustration
Her disability, was seen as an affliction.
Dad sincerely praying for tranquility and hope
Left little Joe Egg staggering on a tight-robe.
She looked through her life, like a horoscope.
Figuratively speaking, Joe Egg felt neglected.
For her heart was deprived and had never truly, been accepted.
Fragmented heart, for her parent’s shredded apart
Whenever he tried to instigate love making to his wife,
She would shake him of, and break him inside
Joe fought to be visible, but was restricted and strained
Her disability was a downfall, she was un- attentive, it pained.
Figuratively speaking her dad was ashamed
Having an unresponsive daughter, there was nothing he gained,
He felt like Joe, was a flaw, on the families name
Having still no luck in sex, bothered him in fright,
So began winding up his wife with deceptive lies,
Weakened his good intentions, for Joe and his wife.
Feeling jealous, getting less attention then joe,
So he looked for ways, so his daughter would go.
But since that weren’t occurring he plotted little Joe’s death
His thoughts were like poisonous gasses
And family friends were, interfering threats,
observing his life, like how a predator watches it’s prey
So in the end he packed up, escaping far, far away.

http://www.chapter.org/joeegg

Theatre

Review ‘Real Human Being’ Taking Flight Theatre by Tanica Psalmist

November 25, 2016 Guy O'Donnell Leave a comment

Forum Theatre techniques were used to educate the public.
Aimed to reinforce the knowledge of right and wrong; with a simple ’Stop’ ‘Rewind’ and ‘Go’.
Any one could participate or insinuate to play a specific role,
It took us further into a deeper dimension where we discussed ideas and social dynamical views,
A story about Prejudiced behaviour, insecurities and discrimination.
The actress with a significant role, imposed mental frustration, as we watched the victim in distress.
Hot seating, thought tracking was pursued, giving us all a wider concept, to analyse each actor internally undressed.
Psychologies lead to different people wanting to get involved. It was an interesting play, dominating problems in school.
This theatre piece was wonderfully devised, integration of those in the disabled community, wilfully were involved.
Based of real life issues, real-life experiences from pupils, was printed in to the script,
This made it twice as effective, especially with young pupils words incorporated
To ensure the script was deeply sincere and powerful words were resonated.
Energy from the actors, was so strong they made you feel how they felt,
The production ‘Real Human Being’ was generally a nail biting, eyes watering, uplifting play,
Especially when insecure, venerable Alice found a friend, who helped her mental state
I’ll happily fund, to have it run again to ensure, a certain aspect, effects someone, the same way.

http://www.takingflighttheatre.co.uk

Dance

Review NDCW Autumn Tour ‘Folk’ by Tanica Psalmist

November 23, 2016 Guy O'Donnell Leave a comment

A surreal world, with fanatical weight
Performed eight, Eastern-European dancers, with different mental state’s
With significant traits, they all took us on a visual journey
Dancing their way through a contemporary, dynamical theory.
Whilst individually reaching their peak, through dancing only did they speak,
Expressions, Tones, intertwined mixed emotions frantically
Erupt, corrupt you saw poison in each character’s guts
Each motion, devastation, made you attentive to their synchronisation
Each subtle flow, every blow, every dramatic move, each hard gesture that looked smooth
One scene was a circular pattern with no gaps, just them walking in bare feet,
Tight, narrowed direction they walked, as the drumming tone hit home
Witnessing to all, who gathered interpretations of their own
Mine was the constant spinning of a world, that we live in
Formulating different connections and identities to who’ve we’ve grown in.
The elements of every dance move, physically so strong, gripping you at your feet as they exhilaratingly, followed along.
Enchanting your mind, through the multiple conventions,
The tree upside down, made you wither into your own imagination
Native tongue, of French descent, grasped a different interpretation.
Charismatic music echoed, as the dancers moved in utter fabrication.
Different themes of love, social dynamic’s was explored in a world of dark, comic indication.
Animated features, made you laugh, a penguin and its posture, of what the dancer conveyed it to be, was interestingly unique.
Another power scene, portraying to the viewers that your interpretations to what exists, in your head is how it ought to be.
Freedom to express, talk as you like, stand up, obnoxiously move in a crowd, being big, swaying loud, being persistent in what you do and speaking in your comfortable native tongue in a community, where no-one understands accept you, Is entirely down to you.
That was my connection with Folk, and the production design as well as the dancing crew, grew on me.
So fortunate to attend, and watching the dancers pull through till the end.
Folk to me is living in a surreal world that mentally, emotionally and physically, comes alive as a believable, existing world where you desire to survive and let your feelings stay alive.

Film & TV

Review Dr Strange by Jonathan Evans

November 11, 2016 Guy O'Donnell Leave a comment

(4 / 5)

Doctor Strange is a movie that must stand out. It has Strange as in it’s title and the name of its main character. So there needs to be something about it that is unlike the other MARVEL movies, hell at this point, where we may be near the saturation point it needs to distinguish itself from all the other Superhero movies we now have.

What MARVEL now puts before us is a gamble. Just as big or maybe more so than what they did with Guardians of the Galaxy. The straightforward way of telling the superhero has almost run dry, so now they need to give us something new. Can they deliver a movie that captures the psychedelic imagery and mind-bending rules of this character and still make it accessible to audiences?

Our hero is the aforementioned mentioned Doctor Stephen Strange a shrewd, arrogant surgeon able to perform the most complicated operations with ease, he also comes with an encyclopedic knowledge of music. One day wile racing to a soiree in his sports car, believing he can do that and talk on his phone, crashes but survives, except his precious hands have been crushed. He can no longer perform surgeries, he could be a consultant but he cannot accept this and spends his fortune seeking out different treatments, to no avail. His quest eventually takes him to Kathmandu where he finds a new lease on life not in science but through magic.

Benedict Cumberbatch soured to a lot of peoples favourite actors list when he debut as the star of Sherlock. Since then he has amassed a very wide range of roles under his belt. This role requires him to capture the transformation of an arrogant, ego inflated, controlling man and have him broken and rebuild himself in a whole new way. He also sounds like Hugh Laurie in House (though that may just be me).

For his supporting characters we have Rachel McAdams as Christine Palmer, the part of Stephens ordinary life and his grounding force for humility and kindness. When the training begins we are given The Ancient One played by Tilda Swinton, the mentor character, Swinton is an entity like no other, you really do buy her as a character out of this world or at least not of the norm, able to take the most obscene mystical mumbo-jumbo dialog and roll it off the tongue. Chiwetel Ejiofor plays Mordo, another but more experienced sorcerer. Ejiofor is an amazing talent and he does indeed have moments to shine in this movie but he really deserves a part where he’s given a fully fleshed-out character that will bring out his amazing talent. Benedict Wong plays… Wong (no really) another sorcerer, head librarian and the classic non-smiling straight-man.

In terms of the layout of the plot this is still what you will have come to expect from most Superhero movies, especially from MARVEL. But what keeps them fresh and able to continue their winning streak is that they perfect the formula, adding the necessary alterations when needed and still giving us something unique. Doctor Strange has been a character that has flourished in its visuals, this movie shows us colours and transitions like we’ve never seen before, there is a scene where Stephen literally has an outer body experience and we get so many visuals that they may have used them all up, but they continue to give us them. This movie is a the psychedelic one of the MARVEL movies. If you enjoy that, then you will find yourself at home in the other worlds this movie takes you to.

Like any fictional world there needs to be rules to establish the way things work and so the audience can understand it. The sorcerers cast spells by abandoning the previously established limitations of time and space, they need to unlock their minds so the normal rules will bend to them. However some acts put too much of a strain on them so they use tools, which allows them to focus their abilities and easily conjure the spells they need to.

Dr Strange doesn’t, and never really has existed in the same realm as The Avengers. His place is a smaller, more neish corner of this universe. He exists within dreams and nightmares, the worlds unseen, but just as important.

The visual inspiration for the movie is very clear. With having a cityscape fold they have obviously taken inspiration from Inception, however that images was taken from a Man With a Movie Camera. But also when we go inside a building it resembles the morphing effect in Dark City.

But what does this matter? Truth is it doesn’t because they use it for their means and make it more complex and intense. But there is also the running theme of the breaking glass, like his hands, his should and his perception of reality, this movie is about the breaking of the this layers we have in life.

In this movie is a chase scene like nothing else I’ve seen in movies (and I’ve seen a lot). It seems straightforward with two people working together to try and get to a portal and they have pursuers. But the pursuers and shift the landscape. They change the angel of the whole city, then bend the buildings and warp the architecture. Eventually the whole things taken on the a shifting rubix cube seen through a kaleidoscope.

Going way back to his first run in the comics Doctor Strange was a character that wasn’t the most powerful but he was smart, strategic and committed to defeating his enemies. Our climax in this movie is not one where two beings hit each-other with lights and sound until the other is knocked out, it is one where what has comes before playing into the end strategy. This is where our hero out-thinks the threat instead of out punches him, a refreshing and important take on to show to the masses in Superheroes.

This movie shows what MARVEL still has. Even with nearly twenty movies under their belt at this point and so many characters used they still have things to show us and different angles and views to take in this genre.

Art

An Interview with Artist Emily Jones

November 5, 2016 Guy O'Donnell Leave a comment

Illustration for The Emperor’s New Clothes

Sherman Theatre and Theatr Iolo

All artwork copyright Emily Jones

Our project coordinator recently spoke to Cardiff based artist Emily Jones about her career to date and plans for the future.

Hi Emily great to meet you, can you give our readers some background information on yourself please?

Hello, I grew up in Tyneside but I’ve lived in Cardiff for ten years now. I studied illustration for children’s books at art college and that’s the branch of illustration I’m really passionate about. Although, I do enjoy drawing cartoons of Donald Trump and other political figures that I find ludicrous! Being an illustrator isn’t my full time job as I prefer the balance of being able to draw and paint when I want, without the worry or pressure of relying on it for an income.

So what got you interested in Illustration?

I had two lovely teachers in primary school and they encouraged me to draw. They made me realise that you could draw pictures for a living. I loved picture books in particular and I had my favourite illustrators who I aspired to be like. I think I’ve always been fascinated with images and how someone has created them.

How has your career as an illustrator developed?

A few years ago, I began renting out an art studio so I had the space to work in a more professional manner rather than just working at home in front of the TV. This really changed things and along with posting my work on social media, I have slowly but surely become busier and better.

Your personalised pet portraits are particularly popular with your work appearing in 1000 Dog Portraits by Rockport Publishers? Can you tell our readers how you got involved in pet portraits? Do you have a favourite animal to illustrate?

I painted my partner’s dog Scooby and it all started from there. I showed the painting to a few people and before long I was being asked to paint their cat or dog. I think painting pets is a great way for any artist to get commissioned as it’s artwork that is really accessible for people to buy. I love painting all sorts of animal but the more animated the creature is, the more fun I find it to be.

Over the last two years you have been commissioned by The Sherman Theatre to produce images for the seasonal productions The Princess and The Pea and this year The Emperor’s New Clothes. Can you tell us how you approach illustrating such popular classics for the stage?

Well I begin by doing a lot of research on how other artists have illustrated the stories. I then do my best to create an image which is completely original as well as instantly recognisable. The images have to grab attention of both children and adults and hopefully it will make people want to see the show. I’ve loved illustrating these particular stories as they’ve both been so playful and silly.

Do you have any illustrators or artists that inspire you?

There are tons! Quentin Blake has always been there as a favourite, as has Edward Gorey. They are experts at depicting characters with seemingly simple pen lines. Shaun Tan’s work is incredible and I wish I had a fraction of his talent! I love Júlia Sardà, David Roberts, Isabelle Arsenault, David Litchfield, Michael Sowa, Mateo Dineen, Rebecca Dautremer. They are a just a few! I study their work and try to figure out how they do what they do. They make me feel totally inferior but at the same time, inspire me and enthuse me to create my next best piece; which is definitely a good thing.

If any of our readers are aspiring illustrators what advice could you offer them?

Draw as often as possible. It seems obvious but you have to practice. Drawing from life is a brilliant way to improve your skills and develop your style. Having a recognisable style is important and it’s something I haven’t mastered yet. But the more work I do, the more I learn and develop. I just wish there was more time in the day to draw!

We believe you are currently working on your first children’s picture book, sounds exciting, can you tell us more?

I’ve almost finished the artwork for a lovely writer, Victoria Richards. She commissioned me an embarrassingly long time ago but the end is now in sight. We don’t have a publisher yet but we’re hopeful of finding one. It’s a great, magical story and the artwork is some of my best. We’ll definitely get it out in the public domain somehow.

What do you have planned for the future?

I’ll continue taking on commissions as and when I get them and I’m going to start illustrating my own stories to see where that takes me. Other than that, just continue to draw and paint.

Thanks for your time Emily

You can see more of Emily’s work here; https://www.facebook.com/emilybobmandraws

Creating opportunities for a diverse range of people to experience and respond to sport, arts, culture and live events. / Lleisiau amrywiol o Gymru yn ymateb i'r celfyddydau a digwyddiadau byw